Authentic Writing

Who should you write for? Is it editors, readers, critics, or someone else? Writers are often bombarded with advice about who they should target their writing for. Not often are they told to write for themselves, but this may be the sagest advice of all. Like any artist, you must love what you do in order to succeed at it. Having passion for an art means there is intrinsic joy in it for you. If you didn't enjoy it, you wouldn't keep doing it and you wouldn't be very good at it. The joy comes, however, not from trying to please others but from trying to please yourself. The love for art springs from that intense desire to do things in a way that makes you feel most fulfilled. And if you're good enough and you can take others on the journey with you, then that makes it all the better. But true artists will do their art even if no one else is on board with them, just for the sheer pleasure of doing it. So you should write for yourself first and foremost, because if you don't thoroughly enjoy what you're writing, no one else will either. The writing has to be authentically you and it has to be from your heart before it will resonate with others. Don't be afraid to write for yourself. It's the mark of genuine craftsmanship.